Man That You Fear

Album: Antichrist Superstar (1996)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song details what Manson had to grow up with and how it turned him into what he is now, a man or monster that people now have grown to fear. The chorus, "Pray unto those eyes, crawl into the dark" is about how parents are hiding their children from what is really going on out there and how they are teaching them to fear anything that is different.
  • The line, "Are all your infants in abortion cribs" substantiates a rumor that Marilyn Manson's mother was going to abort him and told him so. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Jessica - blah, CA, for above 2
  • The video is based on the 1948 short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, in which a person from a small village is chosen randomly and stoned to death every year.

Comments: 14

  • Luna Loud from Royal Woods, MichiganTrent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails plays the piano on the track. This was before the two parties had beef with each other.
  • Dan Gillespy from Courtenay BcA nice dark ballad and a song you can slow dance to.
  • Adam Rose from St. John's, Nl, Canada"Fear God" is biblical. 'Man that you fear' is not Christ. Christ is God. Now listen to the song again!
  • Monkeygod from EdenThe ending originally went “you might as well kill yourself, you are already dead”. It was on a concert t-shirt and then I got a copy of this magazine (I think it was called CMJ) that came with a demo cd with bands featured in the magazine and it had the alternate ending. Thought I found a treasure
  • Lin Lin from Pinson, AlThis song (to me) is about how everyonr loves you as a child because you are young cute and innocent. But as you grow older you are rejected more and more. Pray until your number means that as a child you should pray not to grow older-your number refering to 13 or so-when you become an your teens latter manso goes to say "your dead in my mind" because he's been hurt by those who reject him now that he's not a "cute little boy" anymore."Youve poisoned all of your children to camouflage your scars" this line means adults who have been hurt by their own past teach their children to hate things that are different in order to cover up their own pains.
  • Sal from Wallkill, NyIf anyone reads Manson's autobiography, he states that the lyric "When all of your wishes are granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed" was found on a fortune cookie. Also, for those disappointed by the fact that this comment doesn't interpret the song please look at the rest of the comments, they explain the lyrical meaning pretty well.
  • Danni from Hawick, United KingdomI like the music video for this song. I think the part that says "the boy that you loved is the man that you fear" could refer to the loss of innocence (the innocence of youth) as a person grows older.
  • Kendra from Salinas, CaI like the part at the end when it says "When all of your wishes are granted, MAny of your dreams will be destroyed"
    Awesome!
    -kendra
  • Tyler from Campbell River, CanadaIt's really weird because the music video has nothing whatsoever to do with the song, but when you see it and hear the music, it's got to be one of the most depressing things ever. (And no, I'm not an EMO, thank you.
  • Cortney from Grand Junction, Coin long hard road out of hell, he says he wrote this song because he went to his cousin chads wedding and people were stereotyping him and saying how he had became a monster saying that hes not the boy they loved but the man they feared
  • Jeff from Austin, TxThe video is based on the controversial Shirley Jackson short-story, "The Lottery".
  • Madison from Norway, MeThis is my favorite MM song. The video is pretty sad.
  • Jake from Elkview, WvI think that this song is also aboiut charles manson becasue it talks about how this guy that was loved as a kid (well when he met this girl on a college campus) could become such a monster...I think that the media much him more of a monster than he is...¢¾
  • Jake from Elkview, WvI thought that the whole " are all your infants in abortion cribs" line come from where when he was a lil' kid he found a coffee container that had what looked like rotten meat, but later his mom tells him that it was a aborted fetis...I read it in the long hard road out of hell...
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